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DOCTOR WHO
THE STONES OF BLOOD

Written by
David Fisher

Part One

[INT. TARDIS side room]

(The TARDIS rotates in the vortex, which dissolves to the second segment of the Key to Time, on a table in a room off the console room.)
DOCTOR: Right, let's put these two together and go and find the third. Er. Oh, I see.
(Trial and error ensues - this is quite the two-piece puzzle for him.)
ROMANA: Here, let me do it.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: I used to be rather good at puzzles.
DOCTOR: Puzzles? You don't call that a puzzle, do you?
(ROMANA joins the two pieces.)
ROMANA: Well, hardly complex enough to be called a puzzle, is it?
DOCTOR: It certainly isn't.
ROMANA: Look, shouldn't we be getting on? We've only got two segments. Why don't you go and find out where our next destination is?
DOCTOR: Right.
(ROMANA hands him the tracer, and he heads for the console room. He turns back.)
DOCTOR: Ahem. Romana, I've just decided to go and find out where our next destination is.
ROMANA: Oh.

[INT. TARDIS console room]

ROMANA [OC]: Well?
DOCTOR: Have I got a treat in store for you, Romana.
ROMANA [OC]: Really?
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA [OC]: Better than Calufrax, I hope.
DOCTOR: Oh, much better than Calufrax. You'll love it, I promise you. You'll love it. (He grins.)

[EXT. Circle of stones]

(The full moon emerges from behind clouds above a stone circle. A robed figure approaches a slab of stone. In the background are other figures, with flaming torches. They take their places.)
DRUIDS: (rapidly chanting) Cailleach, Cailleach, Cailleach, Cailleach.
(Clouds descend over the moon again. A woman hands a goblet and bowl to the apparent leader and kneels before the sacrificial stone. The leader pours the red liquid from the goblet beside a stone, which begins pulsating in orange highlights as a heartbeat-like sound is heard. The content of the bowl follows, and we build to a heartbeat crescendo as the woman kneels at the centre of the circle with her arms outstretched.)
MARTHA: Come, o great one, come. Your time is near.

[INT. TARDIS console room]

(The DOCTOR approaches a door.)
ROMANA [OC]: Not yet!
DOCTOR: Oh, sorry. (he walks away) Not yet. Not yet? What does she mean 'Not yet'? What do you mean 'Not yet'?
ROMANA [OC]: I'm not ready yet.
DOCTOR: Oh. Oh, sorry.
(ROMANA emerges. She shows off her clothes - a peach trouser suit with cap.)
ROMANA: Well, how do I look?
DOCTOR: (still looking at the console) Ravishing.
ROMANA: That's not what I meant. I mean, will this do?
DOCTOR: (with a quick glance) Oh yes, very nicely, I should think, except for those shoes.
(She is wearing fairly insubstantial high heels.)
ROMANA: Oh, I rather like them.
DOCTOR: Well, you please yourself. I'm no fashion expert.
ROMANA: No.
(She goes to change. A 'shimmery' sound is heard.)
GUARDIAN [OC]: Beware the Black Guardian.
ROMANA: What about these, Doctor? (She stops.)
GUARDIAN [OC]: Beware the Black Guardian.
ROMANA: What? Doctor, what does it mean? (The sound ceases.)
DOCTOR: It's a warning, and a reminder.
(ROMANA hangs her purple shoes on the hat stand.)

[INT. TARDIS room off the console room]

ROMANA: Doctor, I do wish I knew what you were talking about.
DOCTOR: (lifting the segments) If she'd been meant to know, he would have told her.
ROMANA: What? Look, I only want to know about our mission.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: After all, what would I do if something happened to you?
DOCTOR: If something happened to me? Yes, I suppose you have a point. Yes, I don't really think it's fair.
ROMANA: Well?
DOCTOR: Romana, you were not sent on this mission by the President of the Supreme Council.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: No, no, you weren't.
ROMANA: But, I saw. He told me... Well, what am I doing here?
DOCTOR: The voice you just heard and the being you saw in the shape of the President was the White Guardian, or, to be more accurate, the Guardian of light and time, as opposed to the Guardian of darkness, sometimes called the Black Guardian. They can assume any shape or form they wish.
ROMANA: Just like the segments of the key.
DOCTOR: Yes. That's why our mission is so vital. (the sound is heard again briefly) Romana, the Key of Time is so powerful that it must not be allowed to fall into the hands of any one being. It's been broken up into six segments and the segments scattered through the universe and disguised as other objects.
ROMANA: Yes, I know that, but what I don't know is why.
DOCTOR: Because there are times when the forces within the universe upset the cosmic balance so badly that the entire universe is in danger of eternal chaos.
ROMANA: And I suppose the key can prevent that.
DOCTOR: That's what the White Guardian said. When it's fully assembled and activated, it stops everything.
ROMANA: Everything?
DOCTOR: Yes. So that the White Guardian can restore the balance.
ROMANA: I see. And I suppose there's a time like that approaching.
DOCTOR: Rapidly.
(K9 enters.)
DOCTOR: Hello, K9.
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Hello, my dear old thing. My-
(There is beeping from the console room.)
ROMANA: What's that?
DOCTOR: That's your surprise. We've landed.

[INT. TARDIS console room]

ROMANA: Where?
DOCTOR: Come here. (he whispers) Earth.
ROMANA: Earth?
DOCTOR: I thought you'd be pleased.
ROMANA: I might have guessed. Your favourite planet.
DOCTOR: How do you know that?
ROMANA: Oh, everybody knows that.
DOCTOR: I didn't tell everybody that.
ROMANA: I can't think why, for the life of me.
DOCTOR: You'll like it. It's pretty civilised, on the whole.
ROMANA: Hmm, oxygen level good. Slight aqueous precipitation.
DOCTOR: You mean it's raining?
ROMANA: So it would appear.
DOCTOR: Ah, well. That's what the locals call a soft day.
(ROMANA places the tracer in her belt, and the DOCTOR collects an umbrella.)
ROMANA: Oh, really?
DOCTOR: Anyone for tennis?
ROMANA: Tennis?
DOCTOR: Yes, it's an English expression. It means 'Is anyone coming outdoors to get soaked?'
ROMANA: Oh.
K9: Master?
DOCTOR [OC]: Guard duty for you, K9. We don't know if the natives are friendly yet.
K9: Master.
ROMANA: Er, K9, what is tennis?
K9: Real, lawn, or table, Mistress?
ROMANA: Never mind. Forget it. (He pats K9's head.)
K9: Forget. Erase memory banks concerning tennis. (whirr) Memory erased.

[EXT. Grassy fields]

(ROMANA brandishes the tracer. The DOCTOR closes the umbrella, as there is no rain.)
DOCTOR: You know, I do believe it's going to be a nice day after all.
ROMANA: So, this is Earth, is it?
(He throws the umbrella to the ground.)
DOCTOR: Yes. Pretty, isn't it?
ROMANA: Hmm. Well, the third segment can't be far away. It's over there.
DOCTOR: Let's go.
(The DOCTOR stops beside a spot where some sod is missing.)
DOCTOR: Very strange.
ROMANA: What is?
DOCTOR: These are.
ROMANA: Why strange? They're just indentations, obviously caused by something very heavy.
DOCTOR: (standing) Exactly in two of the indentations.
ROMANA: Oh, probably some form of animal.
DOCTOR: Why? They don't have very heavy elephants around here. It must weigh at least three and a half tons.
ROMANA: Oh more, I should think.
DOCTOR: Would you?
ROMANA: Yes, judging by the specific density of the ground here. (She checks the latter with her heels.)
DOCTOR: Yes. You know, I-
ROMANA: (with tracer) Over there.
DOCTOR: Yes, that looks promising.
(The stones are visible at the horizon.)
DOCTOR: Let's go and have a look. Come on.

[EXT. Circle of stones]

DOCTOR: Well, here we are. What do you think? Fascinating, eh?
ROMANA: What is it?
DOCTOR: Well, it's a stone circle.
ROMANA: I can see that, but what's it for?
DOCTOR: Well, it's a sort of megalithic temple cum observatory.
ROMANA: Observatory? They're just stones, aren't they?
(She stops and rubs her feet.)
DOCTOR: Just stones? Yes, they're just stones. All aligned with various points on the horizon, giving you sunrise and moonrise at different times of the year.
ROMANA: Oh, I didn't realise the people here were so primitive.
DOCTOR: What? Primitive? No, not now. Thousands of years ago, when these were built.
ROMANA: Ah, I see. It's very old, is it?
DOCTOR: Very. And clever. With some of these circles, you could even calculate eclipses.
ROMANA: Fascinating. Do you think one of these stones is the third segment?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Try.
(An older woman gazes on from beside one of the stones.)
ROMANA: Oh, that's very odd. Nothing. (She sees the other woman and gasps.)
RUMFORD: It's been surveyed, you know.
DOCTOR: I beg your pardon?
RUMFORD: Surveyed. The circle. Many times.
DOCTOR: Ah.
RUMFORD: Ah, so you noticed it, did you?
DOCTOR: Well-
RUMFORD: I always knew it was a matter of time before another professional came in and noticed the discrepancies. Oh, haven't I met you somewhere before, Professor?
DOCTOR: Doctor.
RUMFORD: Oh, Doctor. Yes, of course. I have a wonderful memory for faces. Fougous.
DOCTOR: Fougous?
RUMFORD: Fougous. Cornish fougous. You read that paper on them at the symposium at Princeton, or was it Cardiff? Oh, or was it that fool Leamington-Smith. Oh, dreadful paper. Complete bosh.
DOCTOR: Who are you?
RUMFORD: Professor Emilia Rumford. Author of, er, Bronze Age Burials in Gloucestershire.
DOCTOR: Ah! The definitive work on the subject.
RUMFORD: Oh, you're too kind, Doctor, but, of course, perfectly right. It was the survey of Doctor Borlase in 1754 that brought you on to it. That's how I twigged, 'cos when I came to compare the survey of Doctor Borlase with the survey of the Reverend Thomas Bright in 1820 and then the two surveys of 1874 and 1911, well, it was obvious, wasn't it?
DOCTOR+ROMANA: What was obvious?
DOCTOR: I do beg your pardon. That's my assistant, Romana.
RUMFORD: Well, hello.
ROMANA: Hello.
RUMFORD: What a charming name. What's the origin, I wonder.
ROMANA: What was obvious, Professor Rumford?
RUMFORD: That there'd been a miscount, my dear.
ROMANA: A miscount?
RUMFORD: Of the stones. According to Doctor Borlase, the Nine Travellers here-
ROMANA: The Nine Travellers?
RUMFORD: Oh, it's a local name for them.
ROMANA: Yes, but there are more than nine stones.
RUMFORD: Curious, isn't it?
DOCTOR: So is this.
ROMANA: Yes.
RUMFORD: What?
DOCTOR: Dried blood, and quite a lot of it. Almost as if something had had its throat cut.
(A tall, young WOMAN with theodolite places a marker post in the ground at this exact location.)
VIVIEN: It probably did.
RUMFORD: Vivien. Ah, Doctor, my friend Miss Vivien Fay.
DOCTOR: How do you do? You move very quietly, Miss Fay. I didn't hear your approach.
VIVIEN: I used to be a Brown Owl.
ROMANA: Really?
DOCTOR: (aside to her) The leader of a Brownie pack. (to VIVIEN) Doesn't the blood upset you, then?
VIVIEN: Oh, it'll probably be just another sacrifice.
ROMANA: I thought you told me Earth was civilised now.
DOCTOR: Shh. You mean there have been sacrifices before?
VIVIEN: The BIDS are a bit primitive.
ROMANA: The BIDS?
VIVIEN: The British Institute of Druidic Studies. Nothing at all to do with real Druids, of course, past or present. No, there's a group of them who come regularly. They all wear white robes and wave bits of mistletoe and curved knives in the air. It's all very unhistoric.
(RUMFORD is seated on a folding stool.)
RUMFORD: Oh, I think you dismiss them a little too easily.
DOCTOR: Why, has there been trouble?
RUMFORD: Well, their leader, Mister De Vries, is a very unpleasant man.
DOCTOR: Really?
VIVIEN: Yes. As a matter of fact, we thought you were one of his group.
DOCTOR: So you don't have anything to do with them, then.
RUMFORD: Ah, no more than we can help. All that mumbo-jumbo nonsense. No, Vivien and I are conducting a topographical, geological, astronomical, archeological survey of the site.
DOCTOR: How would I see this Mister De Vries?
RUMFORD: Oh, he lives over the hill in the big house.
DOCTOR: I think I'll look him up.
ROMANA: What, now?
DOCTOR: Yes.
RUMFORD: I warn you, Doctor, he doesn't like scientists.
DOCTOR: Well, very few people do, in my experience. Oh, by the way. Over there we noticed some indentations in the ground made by something very heavy.
VIVIEN: Oh, it's probably one of the local farmers moving equipment.
DOCTOR: Ah, very probably, yes. Over this way, you say?
RUMFORD: Yes, you can't miss it.
DOCTOR: How far is it?
RUMFORD: Oh, only a couple of miles.
ROMANA: Only?
DOCTOR: Well, I did warn you about those shoes.
ROMANA: Yes, you did.
RUMFORD: Yes, I see what you mean. They're not very practical, are they?
ROMANA: Yes, well, I didn't realise-
DOCTOR: She wouldn't be told. Look, I tell you what. Why don't you hang on here and I'll stop off on the way back and bring you some boots, right?
ROMANA: Thank you.
DOCTOR: (sotto) Listen. Keep an eye on those two. There's something very odd going on.
ROMANA: Right.
DOCTOR: Right, I won't be long. Goodbye.
ROMANA: Bye.
(The DOCTOR leaves.)
VIVIEN: Oh, typical.
ROMANA: What?
VIVIEN: Typical male. Strands you here in the middle of nowhere with two complete strangers while he goes off somewhere enjoying himself.
RUMFORD: Oh, well, never mind. You can help us with the work while you're waiting.
ROMANA: Right.

[EXT. Just beyond the circle]

DOCTOR: (hurrying past the holes in the ground) Farm machinery? Hah!

[EXT. Circle of stones]

(ROMANA holds measuring tape to a measuring stick.)
RUMFORD: Is that straight?
ROMANA: Yes.
RUMFORD: Jolly good. What does that make it - 28.9 metres?
ROMANA: Uh-huh. (She winds up the measuring tape.)
RUMFORD: Well, girls, let's have a breather. Take five, as they say.
(A crow screeches, then perches on one of the standing stones.)
ROMANA: What's that?
VIVIEN: Don't be afraid. It's only a crow.
ROMANA: Ooh. It looks evil.

[INT. Temple]

(We are in a dim room with candles. A robed man, DE VRIES, lights incense on an altar. Mistletoe and a curved blade rest beside it.)
DE VRIES: Cailleach, Cailleach, Cailleach, we come to do your bidding.
(MARTHA, kneeling beside the altar, echoes the chant. A crow arrives.)
DE VRIES: Cailleach, Cailleach, Cailleach. Your spirit fills us. Your worshippers are our brothers. Your enemies are our enemies.
(He unsheathes the knife.)
DE VRIES: Death to the enemies of the Cailleach!
MARTHA: Death to the enemies of the Cailleach!
(The DOCTOR briskly walks down a road and arrives at some gates. He approaches a grand old building, passes a statue of Mercury before the door, and rings the bell.)

[INT. Temple]

(The doorbell rings.)
DE VRIES: He comes, o Cailleach, he comes. The one foretold is here.
(He sheathes the knife.)
DE VRIES: Your time will come, o Cailleach.
(He walks to the other side of the altar, where MARTHA still kneels, and places the lid on the brazier. He takes off his robe and places it in her arms. The doorbell rings again.)

[INT. CORRIDOR]

(While the DOCTOR waits at the entrance, DE VRIES dons a jacket before a mirror and adjusts his necktie.)
DOCTOR [OC]: Anybody there?
DE VRIES: Our friend's impatient. Don't let's keep him waiting.

[INT. Entryway]

(From a dark wooden staircase, we see the DOCTOR enter an imposing entryway whose walls feature portraits and some places where portraits once hung.)
DOCTOR: Hello? Anybody home? Any? Nobody home except us Druids.
(He examines one of the portraits and reads the label to himself.)
DOCTOR: Thomas Borlase 1701 to 1754. Oh. Oh, so that's the good doctor.
DE VRIES: He surveyed the Nine Travellers, but then you probably know that already, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Mister De Vries.
DE VRIES: Correct.
DOCTOR: How did you know my name?
DE VRIES: It was very sad about Doctor Borlase.
DOCTOR: What?
DE VRIES: Didn't Professor Rumford tell you?
DOCTOR: No.
DE VRIES: One of the stones fell on him just after he completed his survey.
DOCTOR: What? Maybe we should warn the professor.
DE VRIES: She's quite safe.
DOCTOR: Ah. (he steps beside him and gestures to the spots of the missing paintings) What about them?
DE VRIES: Those are away being cleaned. One of them's rather fine, by the Scottish painter Ramsey. Lady Morgana Montcalm. Perhaps you've heard of her?
DOCTOR: No, I'm afraid I haven't.
DE VRIES: The Montcalms owned this land and this house, including the circle. They used to call her the wicked Lady Montcalm.
DOCTOR: Really?
DE VRIES: She's said to have murdered her husband on her wedding night.
(He refers to the next blank space along.)
DE VRIES: That's Mrs Trefusis. She was a recluse. She lived here for 60 years and never saw a soul.
DOCTOR: Really.
DE VRIES: And that's a Brazilian lady, or would be if she were here. Señora Camara.
DOCTOR: Hmm. Was there a Señor Camara?
DE VRIES: He doesn't seem to have survived the crossing from Brazil. But don't let's stand about here in the hall, Doctor. Do come in. Let me offer you a glass of sherry.
DOCTOR: Yes, thank you, thank you. I'd like that.

[EXT. Circle of stones]

ROMANA: (looking upward at a convention of crows) They've been circling all afternoon.
RUMFORD: Well, girls, time to pack up. (rising from her stool) Thanks for all your help, Romana. Fancy a mug of tea and some sandwiches?
ROMANA: Well, I-
VIVIEN: Please do. My cottage is just over the hill.
ROMANA: I think I'd better wait here for the Doctor; otherwise, he won't know where I am.
RUMFORD: Well, please yourself, girl, but if you change your mind, we're not far away.
VIVIEN: Bring your friend along with you when he gets back.
ROMANA: All right.
VIVIEN: Good. See you later, then.
(RUMFORD and VIVIEN leave. ROMANA surveys the stones with the tracer. Nothing. She sighs. Crows caw.)

[INT. De Vries study]

(A raven looks about.)
DOCTOR: That's rather an unusual pet, isn't it? (He sips his sherry.)
DE VRIES: It's not exactly what you'd call a pet, Doctor.
DOCTOR: You know, Mister De Vries, you never told me how you knew my name. (He throws himself down into a sitting position.)
DE VRIES: Didn't I, Doctor?
DOCTOR: No.
DE VRIES: You never told me what your interest in the circle is.
DOCTOR: That's true. I'm looking for something.
DE VRIES: What?
DOCTOR: Part of a key.
DE VRIES: A key to what?
DOCTOR: Oh, it's just a key. It's been mislaid. Tell me, you're not really a Druid, are you?
DE VRIES: Not in the conventional sense, no, but I am a humble student of Druidic lore.
DOCTOR: That must be very boring.
DE VRIES: Boring? What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Well, I mean there's so little of it that's historically reliable, is there? The odd mention in Julius Caesar, Tacitus, no great detail. I always thought that Druidism was founded by John Aubrey in the seventeenth century as a joke. He had a great sense of humour, John Aubrey.
DE VRIES: It is no laughing matter.
DOCTOR: Oh. Oh, well that's a pity. What's your interest in the stones?
DE VRIES: The stones are sacred.
DOCTOR: To whom?
DE VRIES: To one who is mighty and all-powerful. To the goddess.
DOCTOR: The goddess? What goddess is that?
DE VRIES: She has many names. Morrigu, Nermintana, the Cailleach.
DOCTOR: Ah, Celtic, of course.
DE VRIES: Goddess of war, death, and magic. Beware the raven or the crow, Doctor. They are her eyes.
DOCTOR: You don't really believe that, do you, hmm?
DE VRIES: I have seen her power, Doctor. Come.
(A costumed figure appears, with a bird mask and feathers. Before the DOCTOR can get very far, DE VRIES conks him on the back of the head.)
DE VRIES: His blood is still warm. I know what to do.

[EXT. Circle of stones]

DOCTOR'S VOICE: Romana!
ROMANA: Doctor, where have you been?
(No-one is visible, and no-one answers her.)
ROMANA: Doctor? Are you all right?
(She abandons her shoes and takes off in a jog. Barefoot, she approaches a cliff, marked by a sign stating 'DANGER   CLIFF EDGE    UNSAFE'.)
DOCTOR'S VOICE: Romana! Romana!
(She reaches the cliff's edge and looks down. She sees no Doctor, just rocks and churning waters.)
ROMANA: Doctor? Where are you?
DOCTOR'S VOICE: Romana!
ROMANA: (leaning over the edge and gazing about) Doctor, what's the matter? (she steps back, soles over the edge, and we cannot see what she is seeing) No, no!
(She screams and falls.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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